Antioxidants in Coffee can help protect your heart!

Coffee provides more than just a morning kick start! A hot cup of coffee contributes to our antioxidant intake which is proven to protect against many diseases, one of them being heart disease.

This is still new and is an exciting lead for further study.

Coffee provides Antioxidants:

Coffee beans are one of the richest dietary sources of antioxidants and supplies as much as 70% of the total antioxidant intake of our diet making it the most important dietary source.

We get more antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source as it is part of our daily routine. Consuming up to 4 cups of coffee a day will provide you with more antioxidants when compared to other dietary food sources such as tea, fruits and vegetables.

Good to know

Did you know that caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee provides similar antioxidant levels and can thus help play a protective role against cardiovascular disease?

How do Antioxidants protect against heart disease?

External and internal factors in our life can cause cell damage and increase the risk of many diseases. Part of this cellular damage leads to one of the major known factors in the development of heart disease - oxidation of cholesterol. Oxidation is the addition of oxygen to low-density lipoproteins (LDL or “bad” cholesterol), which contributes to the build up of fatty substances on artery walls (atherosclerosis) and can eventually slow or block blood flow to the heart.

Antioxidants such as vitamin C and E, Selenium, phytochemicals and compounds like those found in Coffee may slow down oxidation and reduce the damage caused by cholesterol, thereby protecting our blood vessels & heart health.

Does coffee increase Blood Pressure?

Research has shown no relationship between a person’s intake of coffee and the risk of hypertension in normal people. Coffee may increase Blood Pressure only for people who are predisposed to it, i.e. who have a history of high blood pressure. Although there have been previous studies there is still no clear answer about the association between coffee consumption and hypertension.